Endangered Species Act | A History of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 | 1982 ESA Amendment

Congress enacted the following amendments to the Endangered Species Act in 1982 :

Determinations of the status of species were required to be made solely on the basis of biological and trade information, without consideration of possible economic or other effects [section 4];

A final rule to determine the status of a species was required to follow within one year of its proposal unless withdrawn for cause. This requirement replaced a two-year limit that had been enacted in 1978 on adopting a final rule. Failure to meet the two-year deadline had been grounds for mandatory withdrawals of more than 1500 proposed species listings in 1979 [section 4];

Section 10 included a provision to designate experimental populations of listed species that could be subject to different treatment under section 4 for critical habitat, section 7 for interagency cooperation, and section 9 for prohibitions;

Section 9 included a prohibition against removing endangered plants from land under Federal jurisdiction and reducing them to possession;